Urban Animals - Art Gallery of Alberta

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program
Animal Studies: Prairie Dog continued
For black-tailed prairie dogs, the resident male of the family
group fathers all the offspring. Mother prairie dogs do most
of the care for the young. In addition to nursing the young,
the mother also defends the nursery chamber and collects
grass for the nest. Males play their part by defending the
territories and maintaining the burrows. The young spend
their first six weeks below the ground being nursed. They
are then weaned and begin to surface from the burrow. By
five months they are fully grown.
Prairie dogs showing affection
Females remain in their natal groups for life and are thus
the source of stability in the groups. Males leave their natal
groups when they mature to find another family group to
defend and breed in.
Juvenile prairie dogs
The prairie dog is well adapted to predators. Using its dichromatic colour vision, it can
detect predators from a far distance and then alert other prarie dogs to the danger with a
special, high-pitched call. Some scientists believe that prairie dogs use a sophisticated system
of vocal communication to describe specific predators.
Ecologists consider the prairie dog to be a keystone species. Prairie dog tunnel systems
help channel rainwater into the water table to prevent runoff and erosion, and can also serve to
change the composition of the soil in a region by reversing soil compaction that can be a result
of cattle grazing. Prairie dogs are an important prey species, being the primary diet in prairie
species such as the black-footed ferret, swift fox, golden eagle, American badger, and
ferruginous hawk. Other species also rely on prairie dog burrows for nesting areas. Despite this,
prairie dogs are often identified as pests and exterminated from agricultural properties because
they are capable of damaging crops. As a result, prairie dog habitat has been impacted by direct
removal by ranchers and farmers, as well as the more obvious encroachment of urban
development which has greatly reduced their populations.
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479
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